TEAM

Getting things done still requires human beings to interact with other humans. We spend virtually no deliberate energy on educating ourselves on how groups work. At most, we’re thrown on teams or group projects with no instruction on how to work effectively together. The idea of teams is great in concept but often difficult to execute in reality given collaboration is far harder than we realize. The study of group dynamics is complex, but it is really about what forces are at work on groups that drive the directions they take. This is not to say, however, that we should give up on collaborating. It does mean that educating the entire family system about the need, realities, and value of multi-disciplinary collaboration is an important venture in itself. The incorporation of good leadership, well-defined roles and accountability, and effective communication are highly valuable and need to be understood as such. Teamwork does not just happen organically. It is a deliberate and thoughtful endeavor with substantial opportunities for value creation in and among family systems. An explicit acknowledgement of the countervailing winds challenging virtual teams — who may or may not be “on the same page” themselves — is perhaps the first step on the path toward effective partnership within families … in the pursuit of generational well-being.